Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Nest O' Pests

Yes, it's that time of year again, folks! The June Bugs are out (don't you just love those stinky little things?) and pretty soon, the wasps and yellowjackets will be too.

Every summer here in Texas we fight yellow jackets under the eve of our house and barn. They are attracted to the color yellow and sweet aromas (namely, me). Kill one and it releases an attack scent attracting all the other yellow jackets to the dead one (and you). They can sting more than once (and it hurts, believe me). The only way to kill them is to kill the hive.

One way we do it is we go to Wal-mart and buy a large water gun. You fill it nearly full of water then add dish soap. Shake up and shoot. This kills them and soaks the nest so they will not return. It is best to do this when it's dark or early in the morning, as the yellowjackets are not as active.

Another way we do it is we fill a large pail with soapy water (I have found that Dawn works best for me, I don't know why) and just drench the hive and yellowjackets with it. They can't even fly once the soapy water is on them and the hive dies out within 12-24 hours, and the yellowjackets go with it.

FYI - this also works with Wasps as well - I have used this method successfully for years.

10 comments:

One year, some yellow jackets made their home under the siding on my house. There was no one to get to their nest to kill them. Come that winter, when it started to cool off, those little guys started moving towards the warmth of my house. Before long, my sons room was covered in bees! We had no way of going after the source, so we had to shut off his room. Even the exterminater said that the only way was to rip of the siding. Alex got stung like 30 times going in there for clothes or toys. When they finally quit coming through the walls, we had to vacuum up hundreds of those little bees. Not fun!

Much better than using nasty sprays. We have them come into our house each year through the vent in our bathroom. The kids almost refuse to go into the bathroom, which is not good considering it's our only one. The other morning Hannah was stung on the leg from a wasp that was hiding in her robe. The poor girl!